Streak stopper – With much of Washington focused on coaching in another sport, the Capitals enter tonight’s game with who they believe is the right man to halt their recent three-game skid. Bruce Boudreau – the longest tenured coach in D.C. pro sports – hasn’t lost four straight games in regulation in his two-plus years behind the bench, and he explained his philosophy yesterday. “We want to keep everything upbeat and get things back to where we were a week ago,” Boudreau wrote in his weekly column for WashingtonCaps.com. After a fast-paced practice yesterday and given the return to home ice, Boudreau expects a high-energy effort when the Caps face Montreal tonight.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT

Home sweet home – The Capitals return home Tuesday night for their first of nine January home games. Washington has played 18 home games thus far, tied for the fewest in the league. The Capitals are 12-3-3 at Verizon Center and have sold out all 18 games (25 in a row dating back to last season).

FIVE MORE NOTES NO MEDIA PERSON SHOULD BE WITHOUT

Multiples of eight – December marked the third straight eight-win month for the Capitals to start the season. It’s just the fourth time the team has won eight games in each of three months in a row; it has never done it four months in a row.

Green, going – Mike Green leads all NHL defensemen with 39 points and is tied for the lead with 10 goals. Green has seven goals and 13 points in his last 13 games, with goals in four of the last five games.

Double trouble – Mike Green’s goal against Los Angeles gave the Capitals seven players with 10 or more goals, tied with Vancouver for the most double-digit goal scorers.

Gold goal – While the Caps take on Montreal Tuesday night two Capitals prospects will be facing off with the gold medal of the World Junior Championship on the line. John Carlson of the United States – who has played three games for the Capitals this season – scored the game-winning goal and was +5 in the semifinal to help the Americans advance to face Canada . He has five points (2g-3a) and a tournament-leading +9 in six games.

Stefan Della Rovere has three goals and three assists and a +8 rating in five games for the Canadians. He is playing in his second World Junior Championship.

Stemming the tide – Washington allowed only two goals and 19 shots in Saturday’s loss to the Kings. The 19 shots allowed matched a season low (also Dec. 11 vs. Carolina ) and the two goals allowed were a marked improvement from the 11 given up in the previous two games.

“If you grow up in metro Washington, you grow up a diehard Redskins fan. But if you hate your parents, you grow up a Cowboys fan.”-Jim Lachey